GREAT SALT LAKE — A pilot escaped with no injuries after making a hard landing into the Great Salt Lake on Thursday.
About 12:45 p.m., a single-engine aircraft went down after "the engine failed and (the pilot) was forced to make a controlled landing near Stansbury Island," according to Utah State Parks spokesman Eugene Swalberg.A boat with brine shrimpers on board saw the crash and got the 39-year-old pilot out of the water and onto their vessel, Swalberg said.The brine shrimp boat contacted Utah State Parks, and the Great Salt Lake harbor master took a boat to the scene and picked up the pilot, said Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke.There were initial reports that the pilot was suffering from hypothermia. But Lohrke said he was in good condition when he got to shore and didn't appear to have any injuries. Swalberg said the pilot refused medical attention.Crews were attempting to remove the plane from the lake Thursday afternoon, noting that because of its wood and fiber construction that it was still floating on the water.After the rescue, it was later determined that the plane crashed on the Tooele County side of the lake. The Tooele County Sheriff's Office and Utah Department of Natural Resources will take over the investigation of the incident.Source: https://www.ksl.com

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Oct. 13, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A small civilian plane crashed into the Great Salt Lake on Thursday, according to posts on the Unified Police Department’s Twitter page.The posts stated that the crash occurred on the Tooele County side of the lake.UPD said the 40-year-old pilot, from Bountiful, was forced to make a controlled landing into the water near Stansbury Island.The pilot, the only person onboard the plane, sent out a radio message before going down at approximately 1 p.m. He was rescued by a crew from a nearby brine shrimp boat.Officials have not yet said what led to the crash.Because the plane crashed on the Tooele County side of the lake, the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office and Utah Department of Natural Resources will take over the investigation of the crash.Source: http://gephardtdaily.com

(KUTV) Authorities are responding to a small place crash near the Great Salt Lake marina. Unified Police said the 40-year-old pilot, from West Bountiful, was flying the plane when the engine failed, forcing him to make a controlled landing into the water near Stansbury Island.The pilot, the only occupant of the plane, sent out a radio message before going down around 12:45 p.m. He was pulled from the water by a crew from a nearby brine shrimp boat, which called Utah State Parks for help.He "was shaken up and cold from the water," according to Utah State Park spokesman Eugene Swalberg, but said he was not hurt and declined medical treatment.The plane was still in the waters outside the marina as of 2 p.m. Thursday, with Utah State Parks staff marking off the area so it becomes less of a navigational hazard for boaters and others on the lake. Because the plane is made of wood and fiber, park officials say, it is floating on the water's surface.The plane's owner, who was not on board during the crash, is being contacted about the incident, officials said.Source: http://kutv.com

TOOELE COUNTY, Utah – A small plane made an emergency landing in the Great Salt Lake Thursday afternoon.Unified Police said the pilot, a 40-year-old man from Bountiful, was the only person on board and is in good condition.Authorities said the plane’s engine failed, forcing him to make the controlled landing in the lake near Stansbury Island, about 10 miles from the marina.Officers said the pilot was standing on the wing of the plane when a shrimp boat rescued him at about 1 p.m.The pilot was cold from the water but said he was fine and refused medical treatment.The man was flying the plane from Bountiful to Knolls.Source: http://fox13now.com

A pilot is in good condition after his fixed wing plane crashed in the Great Salt Lake on Thursday afternoon.Lt. Brian Lohrke of the Unified Police Department said the harbor master was able to pick up the pilot, who was the only occupant in the aircraft.Dispatchers received a call shortly after 1 p.m. about the crash, Lohrke said.Source: http://www.sltrib.com